HRV girls drop two at Pendleton tourney

In their first game of last weekend’s Pendleton Tournament the Hood River Valley Eagles girls’ basketball team got a rude welcome from David Douglas as the Scots rolled to a 71-43 win.

The Eagles found themselves in an early 9-0 hole but managed to battle back to within four points at the half.

However, a 31-point onslaught by the the Scots in the third quarter put them firmly in control of the game with a 25-point lead heading into the final quarter.

Hood River coach Phil Hukari said that turnovers and missed opportunities enabled David Douglas to run away with the game in the second half. Meredith Danko led the Eagles with 13 points while Rachel Perry added 8 points and Sandra Jefferies contributed 7 points.

The Eagles showed improvement in their second game when they squared off against eventual tournament champions Middleton High School from Middleton, Idaho, but still came up on the short end of a 49-39 final score.

The Eagles used strong defense to take a one-point lead into halftime but second half turnovers and missed opportunities in the second half proved to be the team’s undoing.

Middleton used a 2-3 zone and a height advantage to pull ahead by five in the third quarter and never looked back. Danko led the Eagles with 15 points and Brianne Rowley added 6 points.

Despite the loss the Eagles also showed improvement in their free throw shooting, making 12 of 15 shots from the line during the game.

Hukari now hopes that schedule remains consistent for the remainder of the season so that his team can get in a rythm.

The Eagles third scheduled game, against The Dalles-Wahtonka, was scrubbed due to weather.

The Eagles will get their next game action when they travel to the West Albany Tournament Dec. 27-29.